Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
Main Page: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown's debates with the HM Treasury
(14 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Gauke
I fully understand the hon. Gentleman’s concern about delays. He knows as well as I do where a lot of the blame for that lies. I made the point earlier that dependants of deceased policyholders should be included in the scheme. As for a specific date, the only thing I can say is that we are clearly making much more progress than the previous Government did.
Dr William McCrea (South Antrim) (DUP)
Bearing in mind the fact that many of the policyholders are getting older—[Interruption]—surely it is vital that we get money into their hands as quickly as possible.
Mr Gauke
I do not want to be pedantic, but all of them are getting older. The hon. Gentleman rightly says that there is a need to move quickly. I think that we all feel that. I am pleased that the Government have already announced in the Queen’s Speech that there will be a Bill on this subject. We have already announced a date for the establishment of the scheme. We are making progress. That is a very welcome change from what we have seen in the previous 10 years.